Editors Guild condemns threats to journalists in Kashmir, seeks support

The Editors Guild of India, on Friday, issued a press statement regarding the recent threats issued to journalists working in Kashmir by alleged terrorist organisations, following which five journalists working with local media resigned from their respective media outlets on November 15.

The Editors Guild has expressed concerns regarding the threats issued to these journalists and stated that the journalists working in the valley often find themselves in the firing line from the state authorities as well as terrorists. Media houses have once again been named by terror groups warning that those associated with well-known regional papers, including Rising Kashmir and Greater Kashmir, will be declared “traitors” and that “their timeline is sealed”. 

Turkey-based terror operative Mukhtar Baba and six of his contacts in Jammu and Kashmir are suspected to be behind threats received by several journalists in the Valley in the past couple of days, according to an intelligence dossier.

It also added that the space for media freedom and active civil society is now steadily eroding in the Kashmir region. The situation has worsened further after these pronouncements by terror organisations, and there is a heightened sense of fear and insecurity in journalists, which makes it difficult for them to work freely.

The Guild condemned these threats and has urged the state government to create an atmosphere of security and trust wherein the media is not compelled to take sides and is able to work in a free environment with full security.

Earlier this year, the state administration shut down the Kashmir Press Club, which had become an important institution for fighting for the protection and rights of journalists, which further weakened the layer of peer-driven protection for the journalists.